


Fade

by timeladyleo



Series: Fandot Creativity [12]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 22:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15783195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeladyleo/pseuds/timeladyleo
Summary: The rain came down as a heartbeat on the roof, and Carolyn watched the steam of her coffee rise and stick to the window.Adapted from a shorted piece written for CN.





	Fade

Aeroplanes disappeared into fog and cloud. The rain came down as a heartbeat on the roof, and Carolyn watched the steam of her coffee rise and stick to the window. The chance of snow later was high. Arthur would inevitably wake the house early as some sort of sense woke him, calling him to go and look outside and the transformed landscape. 

Later, with Herc, she was going to go for dinner. The thought pleased her. Outside, the grey was cut with white hail, streaks of brightness eating the planes. Really, she ought to have been doing some sort of work, but she was ahead of the plan she’d created in her mind, and there was no need to rush with it. Not now, anyway. She could have a few reflective moments, cradling her coffee.

The rhythm of the rain reminded her of the radio in the kitchen; when it rained it always lost its signal and all you got was static. It drive her mad, so she was in the habit of turning it off when the skies darkened. Herc had been foolish enough to forget once and turned it on, and was surprised at the burst of noise that came out. So surprised, in fact, that he’d hit his knee off one of cupboards and given himself a big, purple bruise. She had laughed for a long time about that. 

There was a lot of laughter these days. Arthur, as ever, was happy, bringing an annoying amount of cheer everywhere he went as though he were some sort of cheery fairy trying to sprinkle happy glitter over everything. And, as ever, it was infectious. But the difference was that she was pretending less. These days she did feel the weight inside her head lessen, and the laughter deepen. Her airline was a disaster, but she had the best friends she had ever had, and she had Herc. 

Her coffee was lukewarm, and she scowled as she drank it. And thought of the face Herc made when he drank cold coffee, because he was in the habit of forgetting. And she smiled. Herc seemed to slip into her mind unbidden all the time. She was learning how to mind that less. She had never wanted to have closeness again, but she had a group of people around her that the thought of losing was unthinkable. 

And somehow it didn’t scare her as much as it once had.


End file.
